Media Release

During the week of March 31, 2009, through April 6, 2009, Big Island police arrested 31 motorists for drunk driving. Twelve of the drivers were involved in a traffic crash. Six were under the age of 21.

So far this year, there have been 343 DUI arrests compared with 369 during the same period last year, a decrease of 7 percent. The numbers of arrests by district were:

DUI Arrests by District

District

Weekly Total

Year to Date

Hāmākua

0

2

North Hilo

0

0

South Hilo

12

95

Puna

4

42

Ka’u

0

15

Kona

13

148

South Kohala

1

31

North Kohala

1

10

Island Total

31

343

There have been 432 major accidents so far this year compared with 513 during the same period last year, a decrease of 15.8 percent.

So far this year, there were five traffic fatalities on the Big Island compared with 11 during the same period last year, a decrease of 54.5 percent.